Armrest for seats



Feb. 13, 1951 H, B, GOODMAN 2,541,756

ARMREST FOR SEATS Filed April 22, 1947 @MJ d FEG. 2

` INI/Emmal HENRY BGGAN By pff??? y@ Patented Feb. 13, 1951 UNITED STATES .PATNT OFFICE Claims. l

The present invention relates to an improvement in single arm rests used to serve adjacently positioned seats. The invention has its greatest application in rows of seats which are adjacent to one another, where a single arm rest serves two adjacent seats one on either side of the arm rest. Such rows of seats are commonly used in theatres, halls, andother public and semi-public places. The arm rest commonly used with the adjacent seats is not suiiiciently wide to permit individuals in the seats to use the same rest conveniently and freely. The person who has his arm on the rest of the chair will practically always place it transversely across the whole rest. In fact, it would take a very much wider arm rest than that usually` usedl to permit two people to use it together comfortably. Such a rest, to be comfortable, would practically be the equivalent of two arm rests side by side.

In the present invention, the arm rest is so designed and constructed that individuals sitting in adjacent seats unconsciously and automatically use the rest in such a way that both parties may conveniently rest their arms without interference one with the other. In fact, the arm rest is so constructed that the individual will use the whole width of the rest without interfering with his neighbor, and the rest need not be wider than that commonly used at the present time.

The simplicity of the present invention is readily noted and appreciated and its operation and use naturally follow from its particular construction. The invention will be more readily understood in connection with the description in the specification below, when read with the drawings illustrating an embodiment of the same, in which Fig. 1 shows in plan view a plurality of seats having common arm rests according to the present invention;

Fig. 2 shows a modification of the arrangement of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 shows a further modification of the arm rest;

Fig. 4 shows a section on the line 4--4 of Fig. 5; and

Fig. 5 shows an enlarged detail of the arm rest element of Fig. 1.

In the arrangement of Fig. 1, l, I, l, etc. comprise Seats as commonly used in a theatre, which may be of the type in which the seat portion can be raised up and the back portion, 2, 2, 2, etc., may move backward or forward or remain in xed position regardless of the movement of the seat. The seats l, I, etc. may :be fixed together in permanently aligned positions, side by side, by either a common supporting bar or structure, or the seats may be bolted in place to the floor. The present invention does not relate to the construction of the seat itself; it is, in fact, applicable to any form of seats which are joined together in a row with the individual seatsl side by side, as shown in the drawings. Between each seat is a common arm rest, such as 3, 4, 5, i5, 'l-one rest serving for two adjacent seats as illustrated. These rests may be smooth, level, sloping upward or downward, and their general contour in plan view is not extremely. important, except that they should have a section extending forward and backward with respect to the seat and have suicient width to encompass the width of the ordinary arm and elbow freely. Running diagonally across the rest is a small strip S, which is raised, such as indicated in Fig. 4. This strip 8 is quite narrow, approximately half an inch or less in width, and may project upward from the face of the arm rest to a height of half or three-quarters of an inch, rounding off over the sectional contour. It should be up suiiiciently high from the surface of the arm rest so that if an individual puts his arm across the arm rest he will feel the projecting strip and be very uncomfortable because of the pressure which it will exert upon the edge of the bone in the forearm. The strip should extend in a lengthwise direction diagonally across the rest or at least for the greater part of it. The strip 8 may be formed as a part of the arm rest or may be made integral with it or attached to it in any desired manner. It may be of the same material as the rest itslf, or be of metal or plastic. Other suitable form of material may be used. The strip 8 has preferably a reverse or slightly `figure S curve with the concave sections facing inward from the sides of the rest, as at 9, and convex in the opposite direction, as at Iii. This means that the slope of the strip changes direction about halfway across the arm rest. This results in providing a kind of a pocket for the elbow, one on each side of the arm rest, automatically partitioning the arm rest in such a way that one individual tends to put his elbow on the rear portion of the arm rest and the other person, on the front portion of the arm rest. To rest the arm across the arm rest or on the strip would be exceedingly uncomfortable. The slope or curve of the strip 8 permits the individual to let his whole forearm lie horizontally across the arm rest without at all interfering with the arm of the person next to him. As indicated in Fig. 1, the partitioning strips 8 may be arranged in such a Way that pairs of strips in alternate seats are directed either inwardly or outwardly in alternate fashion. However, as shown in Fig. 2, all the strips l2 may run substantially in the same parallel direction. Figs. 1 and 2 show strips With a double curve. Although this is the preferred form, a straight diagonal running from the back to the front of the arm rest may be used as indicated by the strip ll of Fig. 3.

The contour of the strip may be varied to some extent, it being important, however, that it run lengthwise of the rest but from one side to the other.

Having now described my invention, I claim:

1. In a row of seats positioned adjacent one another, a plurality of arm rests, said arm rests attached to the seats and positioned one between each two adjoining seats above the seating surface thereof, each said arm rest having a flat top surface with a raised strip of material extending across the top surface of the arm rest diagonally with respect to the longitudinal axis of the arm rest.

2. In a row of seats positioned adjacent one another, an arm rest xed in position between each two adjoining seats above the seating surface thereof, said arm rest having a strip raised 1.

above the surface of the rest of the arm rest extending diagonally across the arm rest with respect to the longitudinal axis of the arm rest.

3. In a row of seats positioned adjacent one another, a single arm rest fixed in position between each two adjoining seats above the seating surface thereof and serving for both seats, said arm rest having a raised strip of material projecting from the surface of the arm rest and extending diagonally but in a lengthwise direction of the arm rest, the strip being curved concave at both sides facing inward from the sides to the seats.

4. In a row of seats positioned adjacent one another, a single arm rest fixed in position between each two adjoining seats above the seating surface thereof and serving for both seats, said arm rest having a raised strip of material projecting from the surface of the arm rest, the strip extending diagonally With respect to the longitudinal axis of the arm rest in a straight line lengthwise of the rest from one side to the other.

5. An arm rest serving for two adjacent seats placed beside one another, the top surface of which is divided into two portions by a raised ridge extending diagonally across the arm rest with respect to the longitudinal axis thereof.

HENRY B. GOODMAN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 535,168 Krehbiel Mar. 5, 1895 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 546,773 Germany Mar. 16, 1932 564,699 France Oct. 27, 1923 

